Introduction > Updates

PDFX Version 9 was incorporated into A-Shell in version 6.5.1710 of December 2021. If you were previously using only PDFX Version 3 (aka PDF-XChange 3.0) and do not want to update, you do not have to do anything. All versions of A-Shell remain compatible with PDF-XChange 3.0, even though it is very old and deprecated. Otherwise, you must perform the following two steps:

1.	Install the new PDFX Version 9 driver (aka PDF-XChange Standard). The installation program is called "PDFX9SA_sm.exe," and it can be found on the MicroSabio PDFX software distribution platform.

Change the DEVICE statement in any of your printer initialization files that explicitly refer to PDF-XChange Printer 2012 to instead refer to the new driver name (PDF-XChange Standard). Note that you can use a partial name, e.g. "PDF-X" or "PDF-XChange" and it will select the new PDF-XChange Standard rather than any otherwise-matching prior versions.

It is not mandatory to uninstall the PDF-XChange Printer 2012 driver, but any attempt to print to it from A-Shell 6.5.1710+ will result in an error message telling you the driver is incompatible.

Backstory

PDFX is built on top of the third-party program "PDF-XChange" from a software developer in the UK called PDF-XChange Co. Ltd., previously Tracker Systems. Like A-Shell, PDF-XChange undergoes continuous development. Most of its latest and greatest features, however, are not applicable to or needed by A-Shell and PDFX.

Therefore, the pattern that has developed for A-Shell is update PDFX only when we feel that it's necessary. This is only our second update in sixteen years, and the update is being provoked not by any new features or capabilities or fixes but rather by MicroSabio's concern about support; we can't reasonably expect support for our seven-year-old version of PDF-XChange, just as we hope our customers keep their A-Shell programs up to date.